Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga speaks at a dinner with visiting UN officials. (Photo: MoFA&IC/Facebook)

Vice President James Wani Igga has said only 5 per cent of public servants are degree holders and 50 per cent are unfit for jobs due to what he describes as early education.

Dr Wani, the Chairman of the Economic Cluster cited a UN agency report while addressing participants at the National Economic Forum on Monday, September 4.

He regarded the weak institutional capacities as a fundamental issue facing the government.

“According to the recent UNDP reports, half of all positions in our ministries here were unfit because of lack of capacity, 50% of public servants had only early education and only 5% had a graduate degree, this is pathetic,” said Dr Wani.

“I want to address the issue of a weak cooperating environment for our private business to prosper,” he said.

“The fundamental issue that confronts our government, it’s the need for a program that will accelerate the face in which the skilled workforce is expended,” he added.

“Weak institution capacities are also a matter of concern in South Sudan, in recent report nails that institutional condition in South Sudan is fragile, the labour capacity remained extremely weak.”

Dr Igga also encouraged youth to acquire skills in activities in the transport, communication, and agriculture sectors.

According to the International Growth Centre, South Sudan faces three main civil service bottlenecks that must be dealt with over the immediate and longer term.

Firstly, it said, that government spending on the public sector is comparatively high, while average wages for public employees are low.

Secondly, wage expenditures are largely allocated to security-related employment, which appears to have crowded out spending on staff in other developmental sectors, particularly health and education.

The National Economic Conference commenced yesterday with calls for fiscal discipline, investment in agriculture and the private sector among others to diversify the economy.